Vancouver’s commercial businesses — big and small — will soon get a break on their property taxes. City council has passed a motion to shift 2% of property taxes from commercial businesses and onto residential properties over the next three years. It will see a shift of 1% in year one, followed by 0.5% in…
PEI proves we need a war effort backing the Greens
It was an historic breakthrough Tuesday for the Green Party of Prince Edward Island — they elected eight members to the provincial legislature, the most Greens ever elected to one body in Canada. (Vancouver is lucky to have seven Greens elected, but they’re split among city council, parks board and school board.) In fact, the…
Alberta election results deliver a sense of dread
My partner Penny and I watched the Alberta election results live on Tuesday night with a sense of dread. Don’t get me wrong — I’m no fan of Rachel Notley’s advocacy for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. However, Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party will be an order of magnitude worse for folks like…
The community delivers the best solutions
The Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts will be no more in just a few short years. This has the potential to very positively reshape Northeast False Creek and Vancouver’s first neighbourhood — Strathcona. One of the biggest issues city planners and Vancouver city council will have to wrestle with when the viaducts go down is what…
ICBC changes are no laughing matter
On April 1, it was no joke when the provincial NDP’s attorney general, David Eby, introduced sweeping new rules limiting compensation for victims of motor vehicle accidents in BC. But before I get into the details, two important points. First, full disclosure: I’ve been practising law since 1984, representing the victims of motor vehicle accidents….
Prince Edward Island could light the way
On Tuesday, the writ was dropped for a provincial election April 23 in Prince Edward Island. I don’t normally pay a lot of attention to elections in PEI, but this time I sure will be! The Green Party of PEI is currently polling in first place. This is unheard of in Canada! We may be…
Lots of problems with Rental 100, not city councillors!
Carlito Pablo, who has been doing a great job covering Vancouver’s Rental 100 program and its shortfalls for a while, recently reported in the Georgia Straight that city manager Sadhu Johnstone is concerned that Vancouver city councillors are “causing a lot of problems” by pushing for more affordability in the program. But the problems are…